Music Server. Cheaper to buy or build?

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CLock3

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Oct 9, 2007
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I'm looking into getting a music server of some sort and have some questions. What got my interest in this is that I recently started using Subsonic so that I can access and stream my entire music collection anywhere I am, mainly at work. I gotta say that I love it. Extremely useful, and works great.

Anyways, I'm basically looking for a small cheap server that I can just use for Subsonic, instead of running it off of my main PC. That way I don't have to worry about turning my main PC off at times, and it just seems more optimal to me to have something else dedicated to it.

At this time, I don't have any plans to use it for anything other than that, i.e. streaming movies, TV, etc.

I would prefer small form factor, with minimal power usage, so that I can just put it where I have my modem and router, and don't have a big tower I have to stick somewhere.

I guess my main question is if it would be cheaper to buy something pre-built, like a 'nettop' or something, or to build my own? I'm not looking to spend much. Am I dreaming to think I can achieve this for around $150 or less? Doesn't need to be anything too crazy. Doesn't need much HDD space (music collection is only ~80gigs). Doesn't need wireless as it will be right next to the router. Would use Linux on it.

Otherwise, I do have an old P4 desktop that I could use that would get the job done, but like I said, I'd really prefer something small and energy efficient.

Thanks in advance for any help. :)

EDIT: After looking around on Newegg, is this pretty much what I'd be looking at, or something similar?
 
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CLock3 said:
Otherwise, I do have an old P4 desktop that I could use that would get the job done, but like I said, I'd really prefer something small and energy efficient.
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Can you underclock/undervolt the P4? Should work fine if you already have it.
 
aldamon said:
Can you underclock/undervolt the P4? Should work fine if you already have it.
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I can't recall, but I doubt it. I don't have it on hand right now, but it's an old Dell, so from what I remember the BIOS is pretty bare of features.
 
Generally building will be cheaper than buying. The advantage of buying a pre-built one is all the software that comes pre-installed on the unit to make things simpler. In your case however, you wouldn't need any of this.

The dual-core atom rig you suggested would be plenty powerful for this application.
 
The atom d510 is a hell of a little chip (I have the same board in my WHS).. The one thing I would change though is the HDD.. There is no reason for a 7200 rpm drive taking more power & making more heat in there for you. This is the cheapest slow drive on newegg. & Although its more expensive this would give you more space incase you found later that you wanted/needed it.

I Would also say if you use torrents at all you can combine this little box into a seed box as well so that your not leaving your main rig on at all..
 
Thanks for all of the input everyone. Looks like I'll probably end up doing the build in the near future, then. I've always preferred building my own when it comes to my PCs, but I just wasn't sure if it'd be cheaper to just go pre-built on something like this, which turns out it isn't.

Any input on the case? Anything anyone would recommend for it's small size and quality PSU? Probably can't do much better than the Rosewill for the price, but figure I might as well ask.

EDIT: Well, it doesn't help that for some reason I originally had a micro ATX case chosen instead of mini ITX. :eek:
How about any of these correct cases?

 
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I've had bad experiences with Apex PSU's. Just thought I'd let you know.

While these PSU's are cheap and convenient, they're not always the most reliable things. Now, I'm not saying they're terrible by any means, but if you plan on running this 24/7 you might want to consider getting something a bit higher quality.

I'd go for the Rosewill personally, but that's just me.
 
CLock3 said:
Any input on the case? Anything anyone would recommend for it's small size and quality PSU? Probably can't do much better than the Rosewill for the price, but figure I might as well ask.

EDIT: Well, it doesn't help that for some reason I originally had a micro ATX case chosen instead of mini ITX. :eek:
How about any of these correct cases?

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Well the Rosewill and Apex both use the same shitty Allied PSU. I would not recommend going with either cases if this is suppose to be a reliable server. While nowhere near as shitty as an Allied PSU, the included Inwin PSU in that Inwin case isn't that good either. If you want quality, I recommend this:
$100 - Silverstone SG05B mITX Case with FSP SFX 300W PSU
 
Actually that Rosewill & Apex Are identical right down to the PSU (hence both PSU's are model 8250 sfx)

However they are both Generic KnockOff's of the Thermaltake Element Q but it comes in at close to 80 shipped. So that Apex branded one with the free shipping promo is about half the cost. If you like the design of the case I would buy the Apex & hope for no problems.. If something does come up with the PSU then you can later swap to a great quality sfx for a cost.

Edit: Danny beat me to it.. & His recomendation in the sg05b is a sound one. However for the money I would buy a Lian Li PC-Q07 and a Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W that ends up being a few bucks cheaper to ship (or a corsair 400cx thats about 9 bucks more expensive, but then you get a 20 mir, but the 120mm fan sucking heat off the atom CPU will make sure shit always stays cool)
 
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Danny Bui said:
Actually the Apex came first. Then the Rosewill. Then the Thermaltake. So the Thermaltake and Rosewill is a rip-off/rebrand of the Apex.
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well the rosewill is a ripoff either way.. But if the Apex was before the Element Q then I would say that thermaltake just took a decent design & Did it better (due to the better materials from what I am told)
 
I figured that would be the case with the PSUs that are included with those. Not sure what to do. I just don't want to spend that much for what this thing will be doing, but at the same time I don't want to cheap out on something as important as a power supply.

Might just hold off for now, maybe use the old P4 or something until I decide what to do. Thanks a ton for all the input and advice though, everyone.
 
It looks like Subsonic has very low system requirements. As such, you may not need a dual-core item for just Subsonic. So you should be fine with a nettop.
 
IMO, I'd just get an used nettop or older Pentium M laptop.
 
CLock3 said:
I figured that would be the case with the PSUs that are included with those. Not sure what to do. I just don't want to spend that much for what this thing will be doing, but at the same time I don't want to cheap out on something as important as a power supply.

Might just hold off for now, maybe use the old P4 or something until I decide what to do. Thanks a ton for all the input and advice though, everyone.
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Well figure a Cheap PSU isnt going to do what its rated at.. That apex is rated at 250w so even if it only did 50% thats 125w which is still about 3x what you need for the above system.. I have the same board with more ram & a 7200 rpm drive in a rosewill with that same PSU that I built for my grandma a few months ago.. Its been jsut fine. I Wouldnt have a problem using that cheap ass POS PSU with the low end hardware discussed above. Just I wouldnt push it with higher end hardware.
 
yeah, getting a smaller machine to run it would be best. It seriously doesn't take much to run this program, even for a few users. A pentium III can easily do it, so getting a nettop or similar machine would be more than enough, even with only 1GB memory.
 
At your current electricity rates, how long would it take to reclaim the cost of new parts versus what you have on hand?
 
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